in their own words

which of course we may not be able to hear and read any longer

ah, but we won't let that happen will we? our soldiers have voices and they should NEVER be silenced

we all know they are NOT worried about troops giving away 'sensitive information'. they are indeed worried about the troops feelings about the fiasco that is iraq


Tighter restrictions on military blogs anger US soldiers· Ban aimed at curbing critics of Bush, say troops· Pentagon moves to stop spread of intelligence

Ewen MacAskill in Washington

US troops in Iraq have reacted angrily to Pentagon restrictions aimed at curbing internet postings from war zones.
The Pentagon cited the risk of providing sensitive information to insurgents. Blogs and emails from troops in the field can often be extraordinarily vivid and indiscreet. One last weekend from a soldier in Iraq advised a trooper in the US who was about to deploy in Iraq on ways to watch for and detect explosive devices planted by insurgents.


The Pentagon said blogs had to be cleared first with officers, and that soldiers would be punished if they publicly revealed troop movements, planned raids, travel itineraries, photographs of casualties, new technology or material that could compromise their location.
Reacting to the ban, soldiers said the real reason for the curbs were their negative comments about the war, including scepticism about George Bush's claims about progress. Soldiers in the field and former soldiers, in blogs posted on sites such as Black Five, an unofficial site run by former paratrooper Matthew Burden, said the regulations would be inoperable with most troops obeying the rules but dissidents finding ways round the ban..........

White House Weighs in on Milblog Flap

In a press conference this afternoon, White House spokesman Tony Snow called our story about the Army's new information regulations "overreported." But then, immediately afterwards, Snow said he wasn't sure he knew what he was talking about. Here's the exchange, with the Washington Times' Jon Ward:........